ishq-e-sultaana (akdha ss/ff) - Page 4

Spicy , Sensual and Strong...quite a wholesome plot authored by you...👏👏👏

Waiting for next part to unravel more of their feelings & actions...

and time came to a stop (💖🕌🛕)

months of passion come to a head, and Jodha receives news that will turn out to be devastating to all she has held dear.

chori chori, chupke chupke

That's how it came.

Like drops of water trickling down the sky like a drizzle before evolving into a raging storm.

When she was just a little Rajkumari who clutched onto Maa Sa's ghagra, Dadi Sa had once read out to her the concept of dharma and karma, her lilted voice weathered by age, explained in detail while her hands held her face close to her bosom with maternal care.

"Dharma — the path of every man's choosing, Jodha. We all have our duties and roles to play. Dharma is the road map we ought to follow, keep on the path, and you will receive good karma," the older woman stared down at her, not sternly but in the way a shepherd would use his staff to guide his sheep.

"Keep on the path and you will receive good karma."

Had she strayed away from her dharma?

Where had she gone wrong?

First, it started most stealthily ever—the aroma of her favourite meals from when she was the Ameri Rajkumari.

Now, just the aroma was enough to have her stomach twist.

Moti had walked in with a thali bearing gatte ki sabzi and dal baati churma—both meals she looked forward to as a young Ameri princess. Maa Sa had once teased her for requesting seconds.

However, she found her body rejecting the food. The smell of onions blended with the spices hit her nostrils, and her stomach squeezed with a certain fury that would have had her hurl whatever meal she had eaten the previous evening.

Swallowing the urge, Jodha brought her hand forward.

Moti's face fell, the dasi setting the thali aside as she held Jodha's hands.

"Jodha, what ails you? You've always looked forward to this. You need to eat something at least," she added, worried about the change.

Casting her gaze towards the meal, Jodha's eyelashes fluttered before looking away. Even the sight was enough to have her stomach want to lurch again.

What is wrong with me?

She shook her head negatively.

"I am not hungry," had been her reply.

But then, it persisted for weeks, where even the smell of certain spices like cumin had her taking in deep breaths just to settle her stomach.

Then came the dizziness and fatigue. Oh, those two were a lethal combination which sprang up at the most unfortunate time.

The first incident had been at the tulsi as she performed puja at the site...then—

A loud gasp escaped her as she gripped onto the marble slab tightly to stabilize herself. Her aarti thali crashed to the floor, setting the contents—diya, prasad, everything—down on the grass.

Her hands trembled, and her breath escaped her lips as she clutched the hard marble tightly like an anchor.

Reva and Moti rushed to her side, their eyes widening in shock and perhaps fear that this could have led to bad luck.

"I'm fine," she had said with a wavering tone as she fought to steady herself.

The other incident took place while she was at the port, a scroll in her hand as she negotiated with the dignitaries from the Far East. Jalal's tariff, while now suspended, still hung over like a threat because, of course, it has to.

Jodha found herself rolling her eyes in her mind as her attention was focused on the dignitaries.

Except it wasn't just in her mind, those eyes rolled as her posture swayed before she caught herself, holding on to a banister to steady herself.

"Are you fine?" The men expressed their concerns in their own language.

"Yes. Just a bit fatigued," she replied in the little she knew of their language. She had blamed it on overexertion and the stress of handling the spice trade.

Some mornings, despite being well-rested the previous night, the urge to lie on her bed while staring at the mural on her ceiling grew stronger.

It is the stress, she rationalized as she pulled herself out of bed.

She even found herself taking measured steps during Diwan-e-Khaas.

I must be overexerting myself.

Then came the full blown nausea that came during the early hours of the day.

It did not matter if she had eaten that morning or not, something had to have her running to the nearest basin or pot.

Sometimes, it was her meal. Sometimes, it was nothing accompanied by dry heaving and a lack of will to carry on any task.

It is the stress, she repeated.

That was until Ammi Jaan came to visit her hojra.

The older woman gained entrance into her hojra, looking like the epitome of pristine with her crisp royal blue peshwaz with a dupatta of the same colour concealing her hair, leaving some exposed along with her jhoomer.

"Asalaam alaikum, beti," Ammi Jaan had greeted with a taslim as she made her entrance.

Then, it came.

Jodha could not even muster a "pranaam" before the nausea sent her sprinting towards the direction of an empty basin, and there came that same dry heaving. Nothing but the dry heaving.

Her knuckles grew white as she held on tightly like it was her anchor.

Ammi Jaan was by her side, her hand rubbing her back in slow circles before offering to lead her back to the bed.

Shutting her eyes tightly as she sat down, she let out the same words she had found herself repeating like a mantra these days.

"I'm fine, it must be the stress."

Those words sounded even less convincing to Jodha, and as she opened her eyes to look at Ammi Jaan, it seemed she wasn't the only one not convinced by this tale.

Ammi Jaan held her face so gently as she looked at Jodha—actually looked at her as she tipped her chin up.

"You look so pale," her voice was soft as she noted her observation.

Pale?

Then, the next words were enough to bring time to a standstill for her.

"Beti, when did you last have your monthly flow?"

Monthly flow...

When was that last? Jodha found herself making the mental calculations. She always kept track of her monthly cycle with the same precision she did her ledgers.

A few weeks ago. Maybe a month ago. No, it was two months ago.

Two months ago.

Could it be that—?

Her face blanched even more as she slowly connected the dots. Her cycles were always regular; ever since she had her menarche in Amer, she had never skipped a cycle.

Not even once.

Her eyes veered over to Ammi Jaan, who had a contained smile on her lips.

"We might need to visit the hakim."

"We might need to visit the hakim."

Such words spoken so gently yet followed Jodha like a curse even into this space.

Ammi Jaan had ordered two palkis to be prepared under the guise of a tour around the bazaar. It was as if the older woman realized the conflict emerging from Jodha's world immediately, and she suggested visiting the hakim.

The journey was silent for most part with Ammi Jaan ordering the durbaans to step aside while both women completed their journey through the sea of people densely populating the bazaar.

It was the middle of the afternoon, the sun overhead in the sky as it reflected back on the population.

"We might need to visit the hakim."

Just those seven words were like the Shehenshah delivering a death sentence during Diwan-e-Aam. Could it be that—?

Nahin

Yet, the signs presented themselves as even more glaring to Jodha as Ammi Jaan led her through the bazaar to their destination.

The bile in her throat rose, threatening to choke her even despite her efforts to suppress it. This was different from the nausea that had ended up revealing this can of worms.

"Beti, when did you last have your monthly flow?"

Such a simple question felt like a death knell slamming right down on her head.

Oh, Kanha...had she been so overwhelmed that she had lost track of her own cycles? Please, don't let this be what I think it is.

A sharp knock on the door shook Jodha from her daze, her head snapping up to the present. Her fingers fiddled with the lace of her muted indigo dupatta as seconds passed.

Ammi Jaan, frustrated at the lack of response, rapped her knuckles on the wooden door again.

Another few seconds passed before the door was opened ajar. Jodha could not see the image of the person behind as they remained in the shadows.

"I am a dear friend of Sufiya Gulrukh. Tell her that Mariam Makani urgently requests her presence," Ammi Jaan said firmly to the unknown shadow who left for a brief moment, probably to inform the hakim of her visitor.

Time stood on a steady stream that what was a few seconds felt like a century before the door was wide open this time.

Behind the door stood a young girl who stood to be about her age. She let in the two queens, her head slightly bowed as she greeted them with a respectful taslim before leading them to the hakim, Sufiya.

Sufiya stood in a well-ventilated and well-aired room which smelt of brews—fortunately not strong enough to trigger Jodha's nausea—and herbs. The woman stood clad in saffron peshwaz and white pajama, her dupatta also of saffron.

Her face held a kind smile, the corner of her eyes wrinkling and displaying her age as she greeted in taslim. She was not any older than Ammi Jaan.

"Asalaam alaikum, Mariam Makani," then a glance at Jodha, not losing her smile either. "Begum Sahiba."

A faint smile lifted at her lips as she greeted silently in a pranaam.

"I'd have called for your presence at the harem, Sufiya, but I had thought it would be more discreet if I made this journey over here instead," Ammi Jaan supplied with an apologetic tone in her voice. "I am here for hamare beti, Begum Jodha Bai. I believe you can help investigate what could be going on."

Wordlessly, Sufiya nodded before leading Jodha to a chair to recline on.

Her steps felt heavy as her legs followed behind the older woman. Ammi Jaan maintained a certain distance to grant her some privacy as Sufiya requested Jodha to sit.

First were the general questions about her health, like if she had felt anything different in her body within the past few weeks.

Jodha had sat, her back straight and her eyes staring ahead of the wall as if she had dissociated from her body.

Without a flinch or waver in her voice, she narrated every incident that had taken place within the past few weeks — from the sudden revulsion at certain aromas to the dizzy spells to the fatigue to the early morning nausea which had plagued her.

Then Sufiya asked her the same question Ammi Jaan had asked her that morning.

"Any missed cycle, Begum Sahiba?"

Jodha's fists clenched around her ghagra as she swallowed thickly.

"Haan. Two months."

Even saying those three words felt heavy on her tongue.

Silence lay heavy in the air, Sufiya nodding in understanding—so smooth, so professional—noting her experience with this type of situation.

"Your pulse, Begum Sahiba," she requested, and Jodha held her hand out.

Two fingers pressed firmly but gently against her wrist with the hakim's brows drawn in concentration, feeling for a beat to confirm what was ultimately inevitable at this point.

Sufiya nodded again before instructing her to take off her pallu, pull her ghagra a bit lower to her hips and recline against the chair.

Wordlessly, Jodha complied with each instruction, her lungs catching up desperately with its need to inhale and exhale—slowly—as the older woman pressed around her navel to lower abdomen.

Then a beat.

Then silence.

Jodha did not need any more confirmation, but still sat silently.

"Mubarak ho, Begum Sahiba, you are with child."

She did not flinch at Sufiya's announcement. Nor did she bawl into tears, although it grew increasingly tempting to do so.

Ammi Jaan turned at the corner, a pip in her step and a wide smile evident in her tone.

"Shukriya Khuda ka," the older woman whispered, her voice trembling with emotion and her eyes probably heavenward before she was at Jodha's side, her hands reaching out for hers.

Shukriya Khuda ka, the woman had said, bursting into a mini fest of her own, yet how could Jodha tell the woman she considered a mother that she was anything but happy about this?

Two months.

Two months of missed cycles.

Two months of dizzy spells, which had her gripping onto pillars and banisters.

Two months of her body rejecting the food she had enjoyed back in Amer.

Two months of fatigue, which had her staring at the mural on her ceiling and wondering if she had the will to get up and carry on her tasks as usual.

Two months of her mind finally catching up to the fact that her body had chosen this moment to betray her.

I have been so careful.

Ever since this passionate affair with Jalal, which had her gasping for air and recalibrating her orientation at the aftermath, she had started a strict regimen of taking in the bitter concoctions and herbs—words passed down from Rajvanshi queens before her and the vaidyas she had worked with while an Ameri Rajkumari.

She had followed that regimen so strictly, so religiously, that she ensured she did not miss a single day.

And for what?

A child.

Despite those measures, her body had taken a path of its own and now—

Time stopped and Jodha blinked—once, twice—then, a tight-lipped smile formed on her face as she slowly got up, a silent "dhanyavaad" to Sufiya before making her way out.

In the distance, she could hear Ammi Jaan whisper "no word about this must go beyond these four walls".

closing notes: I decided to update earlier than usual because this week is going to be quite busy for me but please, let me know what you think about this chapter. constructive feedback is always welcome 😄💜

arey such a short one

the chapter ended just as it was getting incredibly interesting! and that too at such a crucial point so she's pregnant and doesn't want the baby?

i can't stop thinking about how jalal is going to react to this... what his response will be. this is getting way too intense

please update soon ... when can we expect the next part?

hi!

I am so sorry about the delayed response and the short chapter this week. the next three to four chapters are going to explore the arcs of our couple regarding the pregnancy, and the next chapter is going to reveal why Jodha does not feel ready to be a mother, especially at this moment in IES.

Jalal's response, on the other hand...let's just say that it is going to be very different from how serial!Jalal might have responded if he were in the same position.

the next part will be coming next Monday as well (I am kinda busy this month so I have to update on Mondays as against the usual Wednesdays/Thursdays 😅)

hi! I understand your concerns and honestly, I had it in mind that I might get different responses because the characters in IES, while maintaining their characteristics from the serial, are going to act differently from how their serial counterpart would have.

however, the arc of IES is different from that in the serial. Jodha and Jalal consummate their union earlier than they did in the serial (for IES, this is circa post-Sukanya wedding track). while Jodha in the serial would be glad to be pregnant (for real), IES!Jodha is not going to be exactly kicking her feet at the thought of motherhood, especially not at this moment.

given that I wrote IES with feminist themes in mind, I wanted to explore, in this coming arc, the theme of choice and autonomy during a time when women were not exactly granted that freedom (and more of this will be revealed in the next chapter, I assure you).

as for Jalal, we will see how he will respond to this, and he is not going to be dreaming of white picket fences: Mughal Royal edition either. again, the next three to four chapters will address this, and he will also have his own arc.

as for Ruqaiya, we will see her reaction soon (and in IES, the miscarriage arc from the serial is going to play a role in how she is going to react to the news).

as for Mariam Makani (we are in Jodha's limited third-person perspective, so this is the word of the dear author), she notices Jodha's reaction to the pregnancy and sees herself in the younger queen. being that Hamida had to make the difficult choice of leaving Jalal behind in Umerkot during one of the Empire's darkest moments, she wants to grant Jodha the space to come to terms with this major change. she also knows that Jodha will not be able to easily make that choice if the news is shared prematurely. to reiterate, we are going to gain more insight in the coming chapters and I am sure you will be able to have the answers to your questions. thanks for your feedback, I appreciate them 😄💜

Today is Monday, Mide

oh, yeah, I'm so sorry. I'll post in a few minutes 😅

I just need to make a few edits and I will upload